If guns didn't exist we would still be killing eachother with the longbow. Guns are just the extension of the human drive to be able to out kill the
next guy over, its not like they are directly responsible for all the evils of war and oppression.

Sure those despicable black rifles, AK's and 30 shot Glock clips aren't meant for anything but killing other people.. But so are swords, maces,
halberds, and every other weapon invented in history. Thugs would be carrying knives instead of pocket pistols, police would be far more brutal
(Without the option to eliminate a threat from safe distances, they would have an entirely different mindset.), and wars would be fought with rotary
crossbows mounted on Apache helicopters..

Because guns or not, we'd still be killing eachother in wars and everyday violence. It would just be a hell of a lot messier.

Some of this worlds biggest and bloodiest battles took place long before the invention of gun powder... entire cities burned to the ground, whole
nations killed to the last man woman a child.

Just look at The Siege of Syracuse by the Roman Republic, took place in 214-212 BC, at the end of which the Magna Graecia Hellenistic city of
Syracuse, located on the east coast of Sicily, fell. The Romans stormed the city after a protracted siege giving them control of the entire island of
Sicily. During the siege, the city was protected by weapons developed by Archimedes. Archimedes, the great inventor and polymath, was slain at the
conclusion of the siege by a Roman soldier, in contravention of the Roman general Marcellus' instructions to spare his life.

This siege fought without firearms lasted all of eight months. A Syracusan traitor finally opened the gates to the Romans. Frustrated and angered
after the lengthy and costly siege, the Romans rampaged through the citadel and slaughtered many of the Syracusians where they stood and enslaved most
of the rest. The city was then thoroughly looted and sacked. One of the bloodiest battles in history and never was a single shoot fired...

then remember the famous line "et tu brutus"! Supposedly the last words of Julius Caesar. Literally 'And you, Brutus?'. they didn't shoot him in
the back they stabbed him in the back...

Guns don't create violence they simply level the playing field so you have a fighting chance!

Human beings, including myself, are not yet adult enough, not evolved enough spiritually or logically, to give up our weapons. The building of weapons
is bred into our DNA, just as killing is, and until we can slice this part out of the genetic database, we will never be grown up enough. We need
scientists like Walter on "Fringe."

but I'd like everyone just to imagine what it'd be like if we didn't have guns.

What would a cold long dull blade feel like being twisted into the flesh of my abdomen? What would the look on the persons face look like as they
repeatedly inject me with steel in a way to fillet my flesh as I screamed. Would this scene be so hideous that one would pray to be shot by a bullet
rather than butchered with a knife.

Human beings, including myself, are not yet adult enough, not evolved enough spiritually or logically, to give up our weapons. The building of weapons
is bred into our DNA, just as killing is, and until we can slice this part out of the genetic database, we will never be grown up enough. We need
scientists like Walter on "Fringe."

Is there really any basis whatsoever for the idea that 'truly advanced races won't be violent' ? It's often put forward by science fiction authors
and pacifists, but is it a valid line of reasoning? After all, no matter *how* advanced a civilization is, it's going to have needs. The
basics....energy, food, raw materials, and room...don't really change as a society advances, or as people evolve. The means of *meeting* those needs
will change, but the needs themselves will always exist...and as long as they do, they will have the potential to create friction between groups.
Unless being 'evolved enough' means giving up the survival instinct (which pretty well defeats the purpose, doesn't it?), conflict is going to be
part of existence. All we (or any other sentient) can do is minimize the number and scope of conflict.

We'd still find a way to kill each other anyway. If you saw the movie 2001 what's the first thing that the proto-human creature learns... to bash in
another creatures head in with a bone. We're no different. If we had no guns we'd use something else.

Human nature is what needs to be changed. Guns are just a tool. When guns are no longer there its because something deadlier has replaced it. 9-11
Hijackers didnt need guns to kill over 3000 people. Do you want to ban planes as well?

If weapons didnt exist.. Weapons are a concept made by humans. You are forgetting everything can be used as a weapon. Our fists, a fork, a pencil,
even a rock can be a weapon. Guns do not cause wars, weapons do not cause wars. WE cause wars.

Well before you get in topic you must define what a gun is, I can set up a rigging that throws a spear from a lead tube through gas compression or
explosives does that count as a gun?

In any case the world would probably be a lot simpler yet methods of death would be far more horrendous and more people would die in more interesting
ways...I suppose it would kinda suck I'm a bit of a gun nut and if this happened I'd probably shoot myself.
-oxymoronicon

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